The boss of Banijay UK, whose report into Gregg Wallace will publish imminently, addressed the scandal last night at a dinner for press, producers and talent just hours after reports emerged that Wallace has been fired from MasterChef.

"I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks," Wallace responded in a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday.

The MasterChef host had been the subject of an independent investigation about his past conduct for a number of months.